Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency, Salvation Army Make A Deal

LAKELAND | The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to purchase the Salvation Army's downtown campus that includes a homeless shelter and day care.

By ERIC PERATHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to purchase the Salvation Army's downtown campus that includes a homeless shelter and day care.

The LCRA, which agreed to pay $1.3 million for the property at 835 N. Kentucky Ave., will lease it back to the Salvation Army for up to five years or until the charitable organization relocates to its future facility at Kathleen and Sleepy Hill roads.

Meanwhile, city officials are seeking suitors interested in developing the Kentucky Avenue property for office or commercial purposes.

"We're open to just about anything. The (Salvation Army) buildings appear to be in reasonable condition," said Tamara Sakagawa, the city's community redevelopment area manager.

Salvation Army's downtown Center of Hope has operated for years as a men's and women's emergency shelter and soup kitchen. The site includes long-term transitional apartments for families, a day care, chapel and office space for social services.

Army officials have reduced or eliminated some services, including emergency shelter for men, in anticipation of its planned George W. Jenkins Community of Hope, set to break ground March 17. The 49-acre project is estimated to cost $27.5 million and be completed in five years or more.

A priority is to replicate all that exists at the downtown property at a cost of $14 million in just under two years, said Capt. Stanley Colbert, administrative head of the Lakeland Salvation Army with his wife, Capt. Deborah Colbert.

Additional construction will proceed as money becomes available.

The Jenkins Community of Hope will include up to 12 triplexes, capable of housing 36 families enrolled in a transitional program of up to two years, more than doubling the current capacity downtown. A short-term emergency shelter with up to 20 motel-like efficiencies also is a priority.

Eventually, the Salvation Army intends to construct a village for children in foster care and a warehouse where workers can stage disaster relief efforts and store supplies.

To date, nearly all of the initial $14 million is in hand so that construction can begin on time, Colbert said.

As lessee, the Salvation Army must continue to pay for property insurance, repairs and maintenance. The LCRA also agrees to pay the Salvation Army $420,000 in moving costs, records show.

Colbert said his agency will keep a small property on Kentucky Avenue to continue some services downtown. A new office structure for the Kentucky Avenue lot will be constructed next year, he said.